Those figures amount to sequential gains of 16.5 per cent and 58 per cent, respectively. Year-on-year, HTC experienced income growth of 155 per cent on a 91 per cent jump in sales.

For the first six months of the year, the handset maker reported net income of TWD4.06bn ($125m) - up 141 per cent on the year-ago period, HTC said - on sales of TWD28.69bn ($883m).

HTC said its gross margins grew from 20.5 per cent in Q1 FY2005 to 25.2 per cent in Q2.

HTC's growth trend is likely to continue though the rest of the year, with new clamshell-format handsets coming later this quarter that target both the 2.5G and 3G markets. Its 3G device, dubbed Universal, has already won business from Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2, i-mate and others, and Wizard, a more compact, 2.5G-only version of the device is likely to win the support of carriers too. Further 3G models are in the pipeline for 2006.

HTC is also believed to be gearing up to mass-produce the next, Windows Mobile-based version of Palm's Treo smart phone, too. This device is expected to debut later this year.

Separately, HTC said CEO H T Cho has ceded that role to company president Peter Chou. Cho will retain his position on the company's board and as head of the charitable HTC Foundation. ®